Can handling apparatus



Feb. 10, 1959 E. R. DUDLEY ETAL 2,873,013

CAN HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JOHN HQUAST QULJ 61 A T TORNE V 3 INVENTORS g EDm/VD R. DUDLEY In (\I Feb. 10,1959 E. R. DUDLEY ETAL 2,873,013

CAN HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 13, 1956 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORSEDMOND R DUDLEY JOHN H. QUAST A TTORNEY CAN HANDLING APPARATUS Edmond R.Dudley and John H. Quast, Santa Clara, Calit'., assignors to PeerlessEquipment Company, Mountain View, Calif., a corporation of CaliforniaApplication September 13, 1956, Serial No. 609,646

12 'Claims. (Cl. 198-43) This invention relates to apparatus forhandling cans. More particularly, it relates to apparatus forautomatically feeling the ends of cans for such purposes as sensingwhich ends of the cans are coded, for the ultimate purpose of arrangingthe cans with their coded ends in one plane. However, the machine of ourinvention has other applications, as will be apparent from the ensuingdescription and the appended claims.

It is customary among food canners to code the ends of cans by stampingcode numbers on one end of each can to indicate the date on which thecan was filled and/or to convey other information. The coded informationis in the form of depressions in the metal; i. e., it is in the form ofsurface irregularities.

It is customary in grocery markets to stamp prices on the ends of cans.Thus, a grocer will open a case of canned food and, with the cans stillin the carton, he will stamp his retail price on the exposed ends of thecans, employing a rubber stamp or the like for the purpose. The stampedcans may be left in their cases or they may be removed and stacked onshelves. Such practice is convenient for the customer and for thechecker.

It is evident that the exposed ends of cans in a carton will have arandom distribution with respect to the coded ends. Thus, on the averagehalf of the cans in a case will have their coded ends uppermost and theremaining half will have their uncoded ends uppermost.

It is a troublesome problem to a grocer that half the exposed can endsin each open carton are coded. The irregular surfaces of the coded endsdo not receive the impression of a rubber stamp as readily as the smoothsurfaces of uncoded can ends. It would be a convenience to grocers ifall cans were arranged in cartons with their uncoded ends uppermost.

Heretofore, to our knowledge, no practicable automatic means has beenprovided for arranging cans in cartons with their coded ends down andtheir uncoded ends up. This result can be accomplished by hand, but handoperation would be laborious and expensive.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provideautomatic means for arranging cans in cartons, all with their uncodedends uppermost, such means being speedy and efficient in its operationand being capable of accomplishing the can orientation economically.

It is a further and broader object of the invention to provide automaticcan sensing apparatus which is capable of feeling the ends or othersurfaces of cans and other similar objects, to sense information thereonwhich is in the form of surface irregularities, and to segregate,rearrange or otherwise manipulate the cans in accordance with suchinformation.

It is a particular object of the invention to provide a machine throughwhich filled cans with coded ends can be passed at high speed, suchapparatus having means for feeling the ends of cans as they pass,sensing which are the coded ends, and then rearranging the cans withtheir coded ends in a single plane.

United States Patent These and other objects of the invention will beapparent from the ensuing description and the appended claims.

One form of the invention is illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end view of a can showing the end coding thereof and alsoother features of a can end which should be taken into account toaccomplish the objects of the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a can sensing andorienting machine embodying the principles of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a detailed view, partly in top plan and partly in horizontalsection, showing the can sensing element of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a view in end elevation of the machine of Figure 2 as seenalong the line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic drawing of the control circuit of the machineof the present invention.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of a two station embodiment of theinvention.

Referring now to the drawings, and primarily to Figures 1 and 3, a canis shown at 10 comprising a can end 11 which is joined to a can body 12by means of a rolled end seam or rim 13. The can end 11 is shown inFigure l as being formed with a concentric ring or annular rib 14 andwith a fiat, central portion 15 of circular configuration. Coding isshown at 16 and is indicated arbitrarily by the letters ABC. The purposeof such coding is explained above, and it is impressed upon the can bystamping. Accordingly, the coded end shown in Figures 1 and 3 has acentrally located surface irregularity in addition to the irregularitiespresented by the rim 13 and annulus 14. One purpose of the machine ofthe present invention is to sense which end of each can is coded.

This selective sensing function is accomplished by a sensing element 17in cooperation with other elements of a control circuit which is shownin Figure 5.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2 and 4, the sensing element17 is incorporated in a machine which is generally designated by thereference numeral 18. Cans are separated by the machine 18 according tothe location of their coded ends and the separated cans are delivered toan outlet system which is generally designated by the reference numeral19. The machine 18 is the same in all respects except the sensingelement 17 and the associated control circuit, as the machine describedand claimed in copending application Serial No. 56l,465, filed January26, 1956, by one of us (Edmond R. Dudley) entitled Can Separator. Themachine 18 comprises a frame on which are mounted can supporting rails25 on which the rims 13 rest and on which the cans roll. Screw operatedmeans is provided at 26 to vary the spacing of the rails 25 toaccommodate cans of different length. End guide rails are provided at 27to maintain the cans in registry with the supporting rails 25. Can; 10are moved with a rolling motion along the rails 25 from left to right asviewed in Figure 2, by means including an electric motor 28, its pulley29, a belt 30, a pulley 31, a shaft 32 journaled in the frame of themachine. a pulley 33 and a belt 34. Tensioning means is provided byidler pulleys, one of which is shown at 35 in Figure 2, each such pulleybeing pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine, being yieldablyurged against the belt 34 by a spring and being adjustably held inposition by screw means shown at 41. Screw means are employed at 410 toadjust the position of the drive pulleys 33.

Upon inspection of Figure 2, it will be seen that there is a gap at 25ain the support rails 25, such gap defining a drop-out station which isgenerally designated by the reference numeral 42. The gap 25a isnormally filled by drop-out blades 43, 44 and 45, which provide acontinuation of support rails 25. The blades 43, 44 and 45 are of knowntype; they are described in detail in the aforesaid copendingapplication; and they require no further description herein except tonote that solenoid 46 is employed to operate the first and largest ofthe blades, which is designated by the reference numeral 43.

As is known, and as described in detail in the afore- Said copendingapplication, the second and third blades 44 and 45 are normally held inregistry with the support rails by their resilient mountings indicatedat 44a and 45a, respectively. The first blade 43 is normally held in cansupporting position, i. e., in registry with its rail 25, by thesolenoid 46 as long as the solenoid is de-cnergized. When the solenoid46 is energized it moves the blade 43 outwardly, thereby retracting itfrom the respective support rail 25 and allowing a can to fall. Theconfiguration of the blades 44 and 45 are such that they are movedoutwardly by the weight of the falling can.

It will, of course, be understood that a similar set of blades 43, 44and 45 are located on the opposite side of the machine in conjunctionwith the other support rail 25 and that they are operated by a similarsolenoid The outlet system 19 shown in Figure 2 comprises a chute 47,the upper, left-hand end of which is in registry with the gap 25a andthe drop-out station 42. Accordingly, it will be apparent that all cansdropped at the drop-out station 42 will fall into and roll down thechute 47. Those cans which are not dropped at the dropout station 42enter a can twister 48 which twists the cans endwise through an angle of180. It will, therefore, be apparent that if all cans having their codedends in the plane facing the viewer, i. e., on the left-hand side of themachine as viewed in Figure 4, are dropped at the drop-out station 42,then all cans having their coded ends oppositely disposed (on the rightas viewed in Figure 4), will be twisted 180 by the twister element 48.Hence all of the cans will be delivered to the bottom of the chute 47with their coded ends in the same plane.

It will, therefore, be evident that some means will be required to feelthe ends of the cans; to sense which end of each can is coded; and tooperate the drop-out station 42 accordingly. The sensing element 17 andthe control circuit of Figure 5 are employed for this purpose. Thesensing element 17 will now be described with reference to Figure 3.

The sensing element 17 is supported by a leaf spring which is fixed atone end to the frame of the machine.

Near the other end of the leaf spring 55 is fixed a protective containeror can 56 within which is disposed a permanent magnet 57 through whichextends a screw 58 of nonmagnetic material which also passes through anend plate 59. At its inner end the screw 58 is thread ed into aferromagnetic core 60, to the extreme inner end of which is fixed around headed rivet or screw 61 of hard wearing, steel construction toserve as a wearing and contact member or button. It will be seen thatthe inner end of the magnetic core 60 extends through the leaf spring 55and that the contact member 61 projects somewhat beyond the end of themagnetic core 60. Hence the contact member 61 is the element which is inactual, physical contact with the cans 10 as they roll past. Themagnetic core 60 is wound with conductive winding 62 which is encased ina protective covering 63. Wires 64 are connected to opposite ends of thewinding 62.

Referring now to Figure 5, it will be seen that the wires 64 areconnected to the primary winding 65 of a transformer 70, one of thesewires being so connected through a normally open switch 71. The switch71 is also shown in Figure 4, and it is precisely located at thedrop-out station 42 in a position and for a purpose which will beexplained hereinafter.

Cir

The secondary or output coil 72 of the transformer is connected to wires73 which, in turn, are connected through a resistor 74 and a condenser75 to the control grid 76 of an electron tube 77. The latter ispreferably an electron tube of the type known as RCA 502A thyratron.However, other forms of amplifier may be used to amplify the smallcurrent induced in the transformer output. The elements of the tube 77consist of the aforementioned control grid 76, a filament 78, a cathode79, a screen grid 80 and a plate 81.

Power is supplied to the circuit through wires 82 and 83. The wire 82 isconnected through a variable resistor 84 to the control grid 76 andthrough a resistor 85 connected in parallel to resistor 84, to thecathode 79. The purpose of the resistors 84 and 85 is to provide aproper negative grid bias which can be controlled and adjusted by thevariable resistor 84.

The plate 81 of the thyratron tube 77 is connected to one terminal ofthe coil of a relay 91 which operates the contacts 92 of theabove-mentioned solenoid 46. The other terminal of the coil 90 isconnected through a nor mally closed switch 93 to the other power lead83. A condenser 94 is connected parallel to the relay 91 for a purposeexplained hereinafter. The resistor 95 functions as part of thevoltage divider and to maintain a proper bias on the screen grid of tube77 while the latter is not operating.

In operation the control system functions as follows: That branch of thecircuit which includes the thyratron tube 77 is normally open. andde-energized by reason of the negative bias on the control grid 76.However, when current passes through the primary winding 65 of thetransformer 70 the output of the transformer is impressed upon thecontrol grid 76 and causes the tube 77 to operate. When the tube 77operates the relay 91 is energized, thereby closing the contacts 92 andenergizing the solenoid 46 which operates the drop-out blade 43. Thedropout station 42 is, therefore, opened to drop a can into the chute47. When the blade 43 opens it opens the switch 93 which extinguishesthe tube 77. The condenser 94 serves to operate the relay 91 for asuflicient length of time after the tube 77 is extinguished.

As noted above, the normally open switch 71 is located at the drop-outstation 42. It is located precisely, so that it is closed by a can 10only when such can is centered in relation to the contact member 61 ofthe sensing element 17 (see Figure 3). That is, the switch 71 closesonly when the contact member 61 is in contact with the central portion15 of a can end 11. Accordingly, any voltage induced in the winding 62before and after a passing can is centered in relation to the contactmember 61, is ineffective to energize the thyratron tube 77. The switch71 is, therefore, a coincidence element and it imposes upon theapparatus the condition that a can end must have a surface irregularityand that the irregularity must be centered.

The significance of this coincidence feature is as follows: From aninspection of Figures 1 and 3, it will be apparent that the contactmember 61 will vibrate each time it contacts a can rim 13 and each timeit contacts an annulus 14. It will be apparent, therefore, that thecontact member 61 will vibrate several times during passage of a singlecan through the drop-out station 42. However, these vibrations can haveno effect on the tube 77 because meanwhile the switch 71 remains open.However, when a can 10 is in the centered position shown in Figures 2and 3, the switch 71 will be closed and the circuit is in a propercondition for energization. This feature, therefore, excludes allexciting surface irregularities except that which is desired.

Assume, now, that the uncoded end of a can 10 sweeps past the sensingelement 17. As it reaches centered position the switch 71 will beclosed, but since the contact member 61 engages a smooth surface it willnot vibrate sufficiently for the purpose at hand. However, assume that acan sweeps past with its coded end in contact with the contact member61. The characters of the coding, i. e., the irregular surface of thecan end, will cause the contact member 61 to vibrate. The density ofmagnetic flux in the core 60 is therefore changed. This conditioncreates a fluctuating magnetic field which, of course, will induce anelectric voltage in the winding 62, which is transmitted through thewires 64 as an alternating voltage to the primary winding 65 of thetransformer 70. This will induce a voltage in the secondary coil 72which is impressed upon the control grid 76 of the thyratron tube 77.The same effect can be obtained by mounting the core 60 or the coil 62to oscillate by vibratory contact with a can end.

As stated above the variable resistor 84 will have been adjusted so thatnormally the thyratron tube 77 is not operating. The adjustment is such,however, that the small voltage induced electromagnetically as describedabove will actuate the tube and cause it to operate.

It will, therefore, be apparent that the sensing element 17 inconjunction with the control circuit of Figure will operate each time acan passes by which presents its coded end to the sensing element 17.The drop-out mechanism will therefore operate to drop the can into thechute 47. It will also be apparent that all the cans whose coded endsare on the opposite side of the machine, will enter the twister 48, willbe twisted 180 and will be delivered to the chute 47 with their codedends aligned with the coded ends of the cans dropped at 42.

In the drawings only one drop-out station is illustrated, that beingsufiicient to sense the coded ends of cans supplied to the machine andto deliver cans to an outlet with their coded ends in alignment. Ifother operations are to be performed which require a greater number ofsensing operations, a correspondingly greater number of drop-outstations and sensing means will be employed. Thus, referring to Figure6, two cans a and 10b are shown whose ends 11a and 11b, respectively,are differently coded. The coding in this instance differs from thealphabetical or numerical coding shown at 16 in Figure l, and itconsists of circular indentations 100a or 100b, respectively. Thesecircular codings are concentric to the can ends but they have differentdiameters, hence are differently spaced from the can rims. It is thisspacing which constitutes the coding. For example, the can 1011 maycontain peas, the larger diameter of the coding circle 100a soindicating; whereas the can 10b may contain tomatoes, the smallerdiameter of the coding circle 10% so indicating. A normally opencoincidence switch 71a is provided at a drop-out station 42a, which isclosed only when a can is at the position shown at 10a in Figure 6. Asimilar normally open coincidence switch 71b is provided at the drop-outstation 42b which, however, is so located that it will be closed by acan in the position shown at 1011 in Figure 6. Associated with theelements described above and shown diagrammatically in Figure 6 will besensing elements such as that shown at 17 in Figure 3, drop-out blades,solenoids for operating the leading drop-out blades 43 and suitablecircuits such as that shown in Figure 5.

It will, therefore, be apparent that each time a can such as that shownat 10a coded in the manner indicated at 100a, sweeps by the station 42a,it will close the switch 71a and the coding circle 100a will vibrate andoperate the respective sensing element 17 and control circuit. Cans 10awill, therefore, drop out at station 420. Cans 10b will pass through thestation 42a without dropping but, upon reaching the station 4211, asimilar sequence of events will occur and they will drop out at thatstation.

The system illustrated in Figure 6 can be organized and operated invarious ways. Thus, the cans can be coded at both ends, to eliminate theneed for sensing elements on both sides of the machine. Alternatively,sensing elements may be installed on both sides of the machine.Alternatively an end code sensing machine such as shown in Figures 2 and3 may be employed to arrange all the cans with their circular codes inthe same plane. The oriented cans may then be passed through the machineof Figure 6 to effect product separation.

It will, therefore, be apparent that a can sensing mechanism and canhandling system have been provided which permit a variety of selectiveoperations upon cans, such as sensing which ends are codedalphabetically or numerically in accordance with conventional cannerypractice, and then arranging all of the cans with their coded ends inthe same plane. The mechanism is also adaptable to other sensing,separating, segregating, unscrambling or organizing operations. Themachine is capable of operating at high speed and is quite dependable inits operation.

We claim:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising a guideway forguiding cans or the like along a defined path and sensing means forsensing end coding on the cans, such coding being in the form of surfaceirregularities, said sensing means comprising a sensing element at asensing station located along said path and having a contact memberresiliently mounted to contact an end of each can as it passes by saidsensing station and to vibrate in response to surface irregularities onsuch can ends; said sensing means also including electromagnetic meansfor inducing an electromotive force in response to such vibration.

2. Apparatus of the character described adapted to sense informationencoded on can surfaces, such encoded information being in the form ofsurface irregularities, said apparatus comprising a contact member andmeans supporting said contact member at a sensing station to brush thesurfaces of cans as they pass said station and to make and break contactwith the can surfaces at points of irregularity; said apparatus alsocomprising electromagnetic means for inducing a flow of electric currentin response to such making and breaking of contact.

3. Apparatus of the character described adapted to sense informationencoded on can surfaces, such encoded information being in the form ofsurface irregularities, said apparatus comprising a contact member andmeans supporting said contact member at a sensing station to brush thesurfaces of cans as they pass said station and to make and break contactwith the can surfaces at points of irregularity; said apparatus alsocomprising a magnetic core and a conductive winding magnetically coupledwith said core, the magnetic field of said core being affected bycontact of said contact member with a can and fluctuating a said membermakes and breaks contact with a can.

4. Apparatus of the character described adapted to sense informationencoded on the ends of cans, such encoded information being in the formof surface irregularities impressed upon can ends, said apparatuscomprising a contact member and means supporting said contact member ata sensing station to brush the surfaces of cans as they pass saidstation and to make and break contact with the can surfaces at points ofirregularity; said apparatus also comprising electromagnetic means forinducing a fiow of electric current in response to such making andbreaking of contact, said electromagnetic means comprising a magneticcore coupled magnetically with said contact member and a conductivewinding inductively associated with said core.

5. Apparatus of the character described comprising a can guideway forsupporting cans on their rims and defining a path along which the cansmay roll, means for rolling cans along said path, a sensing stationdisposed along said path, said sensing station including a contactmember supported to brush against the ends of cans as they roll alongsaid path and to vibrate as it contacts surface irregularities on theends of cans and electromagnetic means associated with said contactmember to induce an electric current by reason of vibratory,

make-and-break contact of said contact member with said surfaceirregularities on the can ends.

6. Apparatus of the character described comprising a can guideway forsupporting cans on their rims and defining a path along which the cansmay roll, means for rolling cans along said path, a sensing stationdisposed along said path, said sensing station including a contactmember supported to brush against the ends of cans as they roll alongsaid path and to vibrate as it contacts surface irregularities on theends of cans, electromagnetic means associated with said contact memberto induce an electric current by reason of vibratory, make-and-breakcontact of said contact member with said surface irregularities on thecan end, and a circuit including amplifying means for amplifying saidinduced current.

7. Apparatus of the character described comprising a can guideway forsupporting cans on their rims and defining a path along which the cansmay roll, means for rolling cans along said path, a sensing stationdisposed along said path, said sensing station including a contactmember supported to brush against the ends of cans as they roll alongsaid path and to vibrate as it contacts surface irregularities on theends of cans, electromagnetic means associated with said contact memberto induce an electric current by reason of vibratory make-and-breakcontact of said contact member with said surface irregularities on thecan ends, and a circuit including amplifying means for amplifying saidinduced current, said circuit including a normally open switch which issituated so that it is closed by a can located at a predeterminedposition at said station.

8. A can handling system of the character described for sensing thepresence and location of coded information encoded on cans in the formof surface irregularities, said system comprising a can guideway forguiding cans along a defined path, means for moving cans along said pathwith a rolling motion, sensing means located to contact each rolling canat a predetermined point in its travel along said path, a circuitactuated by a signal produced by vibrating contact of said sensing meanswith an irregularity on a can surface, and a coincidence elementembodied in said circuit for maintaining the circuit in de-energizedcondition except when a surface irregularity vibrating said sensingmeans is located at a predetermined point on a can surface.

9. A can handling system of the character described for sensing thepresence and location of coded information encoded on can ends in theform of surface irregularities, said system comprising a can guidewayfor guiding cans along a defined path, means for moving cans along saidpath with a rolling motion, sensing means located to contact an end ofeach rolling can at a predetermined point in its travel along said path,a circuit actuated by a signal produced by vibrating contact of saidsensing means with an irregularity on a can end, and a coincidenceelement embodied in said circuit for maintaining the circuit indc-energized condition except when a surface irregularity vibrating saidsensing means is located at a predetermined point on a can end.

10. A can handling system of the character described for sensing thepresence and location of coded information encoded on can ends in theform of surface irregularities, said system comprising a can guidewayfor guiding cans along a defined path, means for rolling cans along saidpath on their rims, a sensing element located to contact an end of eachrolling can at a predetermined point in its travel along said path, saidsensing element including electromagnetic means which is vibrated bycontact of the sensing element with a surface irregularity on a canendand which creates a signal voltage in response to such vibration, acircuit actuated by said signal and including a normally opencoincidence switch for maintaining the circuit normally in deenergizedcondition, said switch being closed by each passing can, wherebyvibratory contact of a can end irregularity with said sensing elementmust coincide with closing of said switch for said circuit to beenergized; said system also comprising drop-out means normally providinga can supporting continuation of said guideway but being operated bysaid circuit when the circuit is energized to drop a can.

11. A can handling system of the character described comprising a canguideway for guiding cans along a defined path, means for rolling canson their rims along said path, a drop-out station located along saidguideway and normally forming a can-supporting portion of the guidewaybut movable to a noncan-supporting position to form a gap in theguideway for dropping cans; said system also comprising an electricalsensing element including a contact button, an induction winding and amagnet coupled with said winding and arranged to sweep the ends of canspassing by and to vibrate by reason of contact with end coding in theform of surface irregularities and to create, while vibrating, afluctuating magnetic field capable of inducing a signal voltage; saidsystem also comprising a circuit actuated by said signal voltage andeffective to operate said drop-out station to drop a can, said circuitcomprising also a coincidence element for maintaining the circuit inde-energized state except when actuated by end coding located at apredetermined distance from a can center.

12. A can handling system of the character described comprising a canguideway for guiding cans along a defined path, means for rolling canson their rims along said path, a drop-out station located along saidguideway and normally forming a can-supporting portion of the guidewaybut movable to a noncan-supporting position to form a gap in theguideway for dropping cans; said system also comprising an electricalsensing element including a contact button, an induction winding and amagnet coupled with said winding and arranged to sweep the ends of canspassing by and to vibrate by reason of contact with end coding in theform of surface irregularities and to create, while vibrating, afluctuating magnetic field capable of inducing a signal voltage; saidsystem also comprising a circuit actuated by said signal voltage andeffective to operate said drop-out station to drop a can, said circuitcomprising also a coincidence element for maintaining the circuit inde-energized state except when actuated by end coding located at apredetermined distance from a can center; said system including also achute for receiving dropped cans and a can twister for twistingnondropped cans, then delivering them to said chute.

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